Hail in Palo Alto County, Iowa

Hail in Palo Alto County, Iowa: 125 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 3. That places the county #1,155 nationally and #60 statewide for this hazard.

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for hail in Palo Alto County is the 2000s, when 43 of the county's 125 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.

Within the Palo Alto County archive, hail makes up 36.2% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,155 for this hazard and #60 within Iowa, putting it in the 62.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.

May is the peak month for hail in Palo Alto County with 27 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.

• Thunderstorm Wind 102

How many hail events are on record in Palo Alto County, Iowa?

125 hail events are recorded in Palo Alto County between 1959 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest hail recorded in Palo Alto County?

The strongest hail on record in Palo Alto County measured 3.

Where does the hail data for Palo Alto County come from?

All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.